


Rinse Cycle

by minoriaki



Category: THE iDOLM@STER, THE iDOLM@STER: SideM
Genre: Gen, Minori is there as well a few times if you squint, Vignettes, laundry sentinel takajo kyoji
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-08 20:48:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13466259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minoriaki/pseuds/minoriaki
Summary: A series of Kyoji vignettes. On growing up and away.





	1. One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [...] and I am waiting  
> for the storms of life  
> to be over  
> and I am waiting  
> to set sail for happiness [...].  
> \- Lawrence Ferlinghetti

The blue light of a wall of fish tanks bounces off of a mess of brown hair, bathed and coloured black by its surroundings. Hair made unruly by wind, fingers, and its very own nature. The fish swirl, separated by glass from lingering fingertips on their home. Their observer wonders if they know how trapped they are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to my dear friend Miya, whose ideas inspired many of these, as well as whose support helped me post them. I really really appreciated it.


	2. Two

The back leather seat of a car, machinery made silent by luxury design. Arrival at and immediate departure from the cram school, not just by the car but of its passenger, cherishing that moment of freedom he only feels once the chauffeur turns the next corner. One that feels stolen and makes his stomach boil but one that he cannot resist grasping and holding tight.


	3. Three

The ring of a bell as the laundromat door swings open, occupied by quietly shuffling people who don't bother to scrutinize those who enter. The slight chemical tang of detergent floats through the air and the gentle whirr of machines disguises the hum of fluorescent lighting. A place one minds their own business. With empty hands, he sits at a table and just watches the dryers spin, becoming a part of the scenery. The first of many afternoons flies.


	4. Four

Killing time at the arcade, senses filled with the ambience of overstimulating light and sound. While two children watch, he beats his old high score. Inputting an abbreviation he's not quite used to entering just yet, he smiles softly as he sees the leaderboard on the screen. KYJ sits at the top, glowing bright and high above the letters TKJ.


	5. Five

The laundromat gains a sentinel every Tuesday, silently keeping watch over the loads of socks and linens until early evening. A needed respite. Falling asleep on his watch, he thanks the owner who gently shakes him awake when he's usually due to leave. He scrambles, knowing that though he wouldn't be missed, he would certainly be found missing.


	6. Six

An afternoon spent among magazine racks, reading things usually considered childish and off-limits. Stories of adventuresome characters who were strong enough to face their fears. The teenager scratches the side of his face as he tries to see himself in their struggles, shuffling to the side to move as a man walks towards the idol magazines. He barely registers the company. He is instead lost in thought as he imagines a protagonist: a hero with messy hair and the courage to challenge his circumstances.


	7. Seven

The results of an exam he never really studied for arrive like a horseman at the door. Their results are predictable, but their consequences, not so much. The letter and its words freeze his father's syllables into ice cold spikes, which in turn set a fire in the young man's stomach. The heat of his words rise from his stomach and carry him like a hot air balloon out of his front door with suitcase in hand.


	8. Eight

The laundromat is open twenty-four hours, but 9 of them are silent. Coins are gathered from the bottom of pockets to fill machines and in turn measure the passage of time, filling the empty air. It is easy to fall asleep when your senses are filled with the calm spinning of water. It is not nearly as easy to wake up when you don't know where to go in the morning.


	9. Nine

A greeting, murmured from the boy turned clerk, finding quiet solace in his daily business. It suits him, the organisation and the quiet conversation. He begins to recognise regulars--the woman who always comes in for a particular kind of soda and complains the price isn't what it was twenty years ago. The man with the kind eyes and the idol magazines. The young girl who always buys two packs of gum and overshares about her school life, despite him never having asked. Familiarity blossoms both ways, and the shopping district becomes a warmer kind of home than the one he knew with his flesh and blood. Forced customer service faces become elusive, but genuine smiles.


	10. Ten

A roll of coins sit inside a hamper, resting on the floor as the laundromat owner gives him the once over. No longer separate, but a part of the quiet quiet activities, a blue eye and a green eye survey the contents one of the machines before a strong hand reaches in to register their heat and dryness. He relishes the comforting feeling of work and independence but also the gentle warmth of the touch, contemplating how unfamiliar warmth once was.


	11. Eleven

Drenched in yellow sunlight, he stands on edge of a sidewalk and waits for his turn with the photographer. A bird hops along the lawn, and his eyes follow it until he hears his young friend call out for him in broken phrases, saying it's time. He takes one last long look at the bird as he watches it alight, smiling. His stomach is as warm as the sun on his face as he thinks that he may not be quite as free, but he's here, now, with support of a different kind of family. And that's good enough for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [...] the hands make the world every day,  
> fire conjoins with steel,  
> linen, canvas, and cotton arrive  
> from the scuffles in the laundries,  
> and from light a dove is born [...].  
> \- Pablo Neruda
> 
> Thank you for reading.


End file.
